Moonlit Beauty
Gao Fenghan
Qing Dynasty
- MEDIUM:Ink and colour on silk
- FORMATS:Hanging scroll
- DIMENSIONS:Height 132.5 cm; Width 106 cm
Introduction
Gao Fenghan, celebrated as a master of peony painting, once wrote in his later years, “Most of my peonies were ruined by my right hand”—a remark laced with humour yet tinged with sorrow. As the only northerner among the “Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou,” his peonies embody the grandeur and bold spirit of the northern style—magnificent yet never vulgar. This meticulous peony painting scroll was created at the age of 52, during his official tenure in Taizhou, a fine work from his mature period. The composition features peonies of various cultivars and colours, arranged in harmonious interplay, their forms vivid and lifelike. Employing the traditional double-outline and colour-fill technique, Gao rendered the blossoms with exquisite precision, while subtle ink gradations convey the play of light and shadow on the leaves. The rugged, upright rock is lightly textured, and the finely depicted grasses and foliage complement the peonies in perfect balance.
Once held in the collections of Qing epigrapher Wu Dacheng and Republican-era connoisseur Wu Hufan.
